Below are a sampling of some of the exciting devices
representing the cutting edge of MEMS design.

All devices on this page are completely batch fabricated! No assembly
required; when the six inch silicon wafers come out of the fab, they are covered
with thousands of these devices, all ready to run.

For size comparison, the gear teeth in the images below are about the size of
a red blood cell

Click on Images for larger view

MEMS Images:

A truly amazing MEMS device. It
is a sophisticated MEMS Thermal Actuator

An early optical switch. An
electrostatic actuator is used to drive a geared transmission connected to a
rack and pinion system. Running the actuator will raise and lower the
mirror

One of my favorite pictures of a fully functioning
MEMS transmission built in the SUMMiT V technology. This is part of a
system capable of increasing the force out of a microengine by a factor of
3,000,000.

Close up of a gear train built in a Surface Micromachining
technology.

Amazing detail on the multi-level springs that are a
critical part of a microengine. Springs are 1 micron across!